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 Thanks to Humble Follower on the MLR Forum for her question, which inspired this blog. You can see the post @ Tough Questions For The Webmaster. Enjoy!

 In the midst of our recent tests my wife and i needed to read Job.  Before, we thought the test was too much for us, and we couldn’t stand.  Then we read Job, and realized, we were in a cake walk compared to him.  If you read the first several chapters where it explains what happened, then the last, where it tells you how God redeemed Job your test will be easier.

Here’s what happened.  Job had everything: money, livestock, houses, servants, children, wife; and he had it all in a big way, we’re talking thousands with the acception of kids and wife, extremely prosperous man.  Then the test came, and they were all killed.  Then his body was attacked with boils and sores.  Then all his friends turned their backs on him and accused him of having committed a sin that brought this on.  He had nothing left.  But because he passed the test in the end he got everything back with an increase of 7 fold in some areas and 2 fold in others. 

Relative to Job is your test really so bad that you cannot stand if he could? 

The Word in James 1:2 says “Brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.  But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete lacking nothing.” 

Perfect and complete, lacking nothing; so if tests make us perfect and complete, lacking nothing then that means tests aren’t just to see if we will stand; test must be to change us so that God can give us more.  My pastor prays over us each week at the end of the service and one thing he asks is that we all prosper in five ways, Socially(more friends), Materially(more money, to give away), Physically(stronger bodies), Mentally(stronger minds), Spiritually(closeness to God, faith, annointing).  The first four have to do with our lives being more abundant and are the things we would expect to receive after a test.  But Spiritual prosperity is what is really on the heart of God and is what really matters.  Spiritual prosperity consists of things that win souls and build up the body, the 9 fruit of the Spirit(love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness(humility), and self control) and the 9 gifts of the Spirit(Prophecy, Tongues, Interpretation of Tongues, Word of Wisdom, Word of Knowledge, Discerning of spirits, Gift of Healing, Gift of Miracles, and Gift of Faith)  These things allow the power of God to be displayed, they build our faith, as well as, the faith of others.  These are what we should greatly desire. 

Honestly, if i was given the opportunity to walk in those gifts in an annointing similar to Elijah’s, and all i would have to do is go through the hardest tests of my life comparable to those of Job or worse even.  i would immediately dive head first into the tests. 

To me there is nothing more rewarding than seeing lives changed.  And tests do just that, they change my life in order that i might lead others to a place where God can change their’s also.

Also, let’s not forget the ultimate test.  The Cross.  The Word says Jesus despised the Cross and what it did to Him, but He endured it, looking foward to the joy set before Him.  That joy set before Him consisted of three things, being reunited with us by undoing the work of death, being reunited with the Father, and then reuniting us with the Father.  By the way, i believe that because of His self-sacrificing and loving spirit what gave Him the most joy of those three was the third in which He gave everything to get nothing, reuniting us with the Father.  He had to die an agonizing death and spend 3 days in hell itself in order that we would be reunited with the Father. 

It never ceases to amaze me the love He held in His heart for us.  He was the only man that had ever walked the earth or ever will walk the earth, that loved only God and hated only sin; this was everything to Him.  Then, He put it all aside.  He put aside His love for the Father by choosing to be separated from the Father while He was in hell.  He put aside His hatred of sin by receiving every bit of the world’s sin upon Himself.  He lost everything and gained nothing, except for the sheer joy that comes from seeing the most important ones in His life, us and the Father, reunited and both happy once more.  What amazing sacrifice, i am humbled.

i think i can safely say nothing improves without tests.  We wouldn’t even be saved if it weren’t for Jesus’s test. Accept it and look to the joy set before you whatever that may be.

Ever prayed and wondered if God was listening?  Ever tried to focus really, really hard or get really loud or really discouraged or sad, hoping He would answer?

 If your answer is “Yeah, totally.”  Then you’re telling the truth, otherwise, well…you know.

 Although, i think some of those things get us to a place of brokenness and/or faith that we may not have been at before, those actions themselves certainly don’t cause God to want to answer any quicker.

God showed me something today.  Those times He doesn’t answer quickly or the way you want or at all, He’s always saying “Trust me, I know what I’m doing.”

Here’s what He showed.  i’m the head of the sound department at my church.

Side note: if you ever want help with learning how to be humble, join the sound team.  We are the only people who serve in church the entire service, for every service, while working at least an hour(often more) before the service, working an hour after the service, and don’t get any recognition or credit, until something goes wrong(which by the way is never our fault :)  ) at which point everyone turns around in their seats and recognizes  that we messed something up.  We get no credit and all the blame.  Very humbling, so thank your neighborhood sound man next time you get the chance.  For those of you reading who attend my church don’t worry about saying “Thank you” to me; you can just write it in the ‘for’ line on your check :)   

 Okie dokie, just felt the need to insert a little bit of cheesiness. 

Back on track:   i’m the guy who knows the most about the soundboard. i have put in the most hours. i understand it the best. i can fix the problems the quickest. i have the most power financially to get the right tools. Now, it’s time to stop before i get prideful. But you get the picture, i’m better at it than anyone else.

Pay attention: There are two ways to listen to the sound. You can listen to what is directly coming out of the speakers through air which is what everyone in the service is hearing, or you can plug a set of headphones into the soundboard and listen to a different signal. Through the headphones, we have the ability to do several things. We can decide to filter out some of the signals. Like if i only wanted to hear the people singing on stage and not the guitarist, i could do that. Or i can turn up certain things in the headphones without affecting what comes out of the speakers. The point is that the headphones can sound entirely different from what’s in the service.

So, if one of the members of the congregation came to the sound board during worship, put on the headphones, started listening, then said that i had the mix all wrong, that it was way too loud, and the guitarist wasn’t coming through at all. He might think that he was entirely correct, with what might seem like a logical reason. He’s in the service, and he’s hearing that these things are wrong. But i promise you that my reply would be “No, i think the mix is great, i’ve been doing this for a long time, i’m the head of the soundboard, and i have things under control, trust me; i am right.” We all know that it would be utterly ridiculous for him to yell and throw a fit and tell me over and over i needed to change it. But this would be similar to us getting absurdly emotional with God while asking Him to do what we want Him to do. His reply is just gonna be “No, I think things are fine and the way I want them, I’ve been doing this for a long time, I’m the God of the Universe, and I have things under control, trust me; I am right.” All the man in my example(or rather the example God showed me) would have to do is, take the headphones off (which are a distorted, incomplete, and inaccurate picture of the way things really are) and he would understand that the sound was beautiful and GIVING GLORY TO GOD.

Too often, we have our headphones on, and the mix is distorted, incomplete, and inaccurate because of our sin. The lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life, all contribute to the distorted sound. But God, steadfast, true, holy, all powerful, and all knowing, in a word, Love, knows what is best. Instead of focusing our energy on getting emotional and asking Him to give us what we want, we should focus on asking Him to help us take our headphones off. Then we will have beautiful music in our ears, while living a life the GIVES GLORY TO GOD.

 One more thought, if the emotional man listening to the headphones tried to turn a knob or move a slider regardless of my telling him everything was fine.  Then the first time, he would get a slap on the hand, second time, a strong rebuke, and third time, i’d ask him to leave.   Sounds pretty mean or strict but it is what is necessary, to keep the sound running smoothly, so that the everyone else’s worship to God isn’t disturbed.  Why should one man due to his arrogance be able to ruin everyone else’s ability to get close to God? 

Be careful,  the Word says that God chastizes us as a father might for disobidience.  If we keep our headphones on too long, try to control things too much, and step outside our boundaries, God will readily slap our hand, give us a strong rebuke, or ask us to leave.  He doesn’t play around with people who cause others to stumble because they want it their way.  The Word also says that there is a very harsh and severe punishment for those who teach false doctrine, so harsh that it would be better for him to have a very heavy stone tied to his neck and cast into the sea.  God is serious about His people, His love for them, and their growth.  Don’t get in the way or the price will be great.